Named for the founder of Saint Vincent and the pioneer of Benedictine monasticism in the United States, the Boniface Wimmer Award recognizes a senior faculty member for sustained teaching excellence.

Fish earned a bachelor of science degree in chemistry and environmental studies with distinction from Manchester College, a master of business administration degree from the University of Dayton and a Ph.D. in environmental chemistry from the State University of New York. She is the director of the environmental science program.

“This academic year is Dr. Fish’s 22nd year as a faculty member,” commented Dr. John Smetanka, vice president for academic affairs and academic dean. “Throughout this time Dr. Fish has been an integral person in a number of environmental projects including the remediation of mine drainage in the local watershed and the establishment of the environmental science major at the college. The efforts to mitigate the orange mine drainage in the Loyalhanna Creek is perhaps one of the most visible success stories for passive treatment wetlands. It has also yielded numerous research opportunities for faculty, students and high school teachers under Dr. Fish’s direction. Dr. Fish has been the principle investigator for ten environmental and educational grants including most recently a grant from Dominion Energy to develop and incorporate energy-related modules into a variety of natural science courses.”

“A leader among the faculty, Dr. Fish has chaired the educational policies committee for several years, moving this year to serve as the chair of the core curriculum subcommittee working on general education assessment in preparation for our periodic review. In everything she does Dr. Fish is an effective partner, a thoughtful planner and a professional scientist and educator held in high esteem by her colleagues,” Dr. Smetanka continued.

“Dr. Fish was an early adopter of inquiry-based and active learning pedagogies in the class and laboratory,” he added. “She has presented her educational innovations at national conferences and along with several of the chemistry faculty, is a member of the POGIL (Process Oriented Guided Inquiry Learning) group. Saint Vincent College is truly blessed to have faculty like Dr. Fish who devote themselves to teaching, service and improving the environment.”